you must burn brighter than ever
She might’ve told him the story, had he asked. Instead, she took the silence for nothing in particular, settled with a rippling shrug through her shoulders and tended to her work. But she kept her eyes on him – not many in Torchline were to be fully trusted, and the youth had learned, long, long ago, survival meant more than just armaments and weaponry.
He seemed distracted by something else anyway, and while Fangorn toyed and played with his vines, the stranger dove down into the depths. Melita presumed he knew the tale of the L’ma, and heralded no warning, no call, no gasp, merely a witness to his movements and motions, diving, resurfacing, something in his grasp. Whatever he’d found, he kept it well hidden, covert, tucked away within a moment’s notice. Perhaps the practice of a thief.
Checking over the bone, the honeybee youth stood, the bone laden back along its tarp – cleaned, nearly bleached, in the abyss of luminary and lantern light. “Well, I’m done here,” she announced, a wave of farewell. “Good luck with whatever you snagged.” Maybe it’d fetch him a nice price at the market.
He seemed distracted by something else anyway, and while Fangorn toyed and played with his vines, the stranger dove down into the depths. Melita presumed he knew the tale of the L’ma, and heralded no warning, no call, no gasp, merely a witness to his movements and motions, diving, resurfacing, something in his grasp. Whatever he’d found, he kept it well hidden, covert, tucked away within a moment’s notice. Perhaps the practice of a thief.
Checking over the bone, the honeybee youth stood, the bone laden back along its tarp – cleaned, nearly bleached, in the abyss of luminary and lantern light. “Well, I’m done here,” she announced, a wave of farewell. “Good luck with whatever you snagged.” Maybe it’d fetch him a nice price at the market.
Melita
